Re: taming the shrew, a.k.a. structure

[Todd Clements <mole6e23(at)hotmail.com>]

 HILBERMAN <hilberma@colorado.edu> wrote:
> I'm writing a program that takes in data and places it in a structure.
> Everything is fine and dandy except that I would like to change the
> length of the arrays in the structure after the data is read in and the
> actual lengths (rather than the upper bound) of the arrays are
> determined.  I've tried to use a statement like:
> po_basin[0].temp = (po_basin[0]).temp[0:1024]
> but it's not working, and I don't know where to go from here.  Any
> suggestions?

Pointers are going to be your friends here. They are the only way to 
change the size of data in structures at runtime (and really, you aren't 
changing the size of the data structure, but it seems like it). Pointers 
are fun and useful things, but that also means that you have to worry 
about cleaning them up when you're done.

myStruct = {myStruct, array1: ptr_new()}

Then, in your code:

myStruct.array1 = ptr_new( fltarr( startSize ) )

Of course, if you need to shorten or lengthen this later, you have to 
remember to dispose of the pointer that you made AFTER you make the new 
one.

temp = myStruct.array1
myStruct.array1 = ptr_new( (*myStruct.array1)[0:1024] )
ptr_free, temp

It's sometimes a lot of work to use pointers, but they do exactly what 
you describe you want to.

Or, if you don't want to use pointers, you can do it the cheating way if 
your arrays aren't going to be too large. Put in the array the maximum 
size that you ever figure you'll use (no one will ever need more than 
540K, right? =), and also keep an array size indicator in your 
structure, such as:

myStruct = { myStruct, array1: fltarr( 10000 ), maxArray1: 0L }

Then you set maxArray1 to the "size" of the array and make sure to pay 
attention to that when you use the array.

> Also, is there a way to make an array of an array of a structure, i.e.
> something.something.data?
> Please say 'yes'

'yes'

struct1 = {struct1, a: 0, b: 0 }
struct2 = {struct2, c: {struct1}, d: 0 }

struct2.c.a = 3 ;; this works

Good luck with the program. Hope this helps!
Todd